This Is The Way The World Ends
by emmalamia
Summary: After Lily and James are murdered, after Sirius confronts Peter Pettigrew in a Muggle street, Sirius is forced to use his animagus form to escape capture. He finds refuge with a small muggle family as his alter ego, Padfoot. But as trouble brews in the wizarding world, Sirius may need to compromise his safety to return. RL/SB.
1. One

**This Is The Way The World Ends**

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. This is my first Remus/Sirius and it's going to start off pretty slowly. Title is taken from The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot. **

**Chapter One:**

It happens on a warm day, with two men facing each other, both looking violent and ready to explode. The difference between them, the big comma that hangs in the air, is the reason. Reason is everything.

One of them killed a whole street of muggles. This same man is responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter. The other man wants revenge. The other man is violent with passion and grief and pain.

The killer points his wand at the others chest, hesitates, then redirects the wand at his hand, slicing off one finger before vanishing. A rat leaves the place where the murderer stood.

The other man realises what has happened. He's been framed. Peter has made it look like it was him. He drops to his knees, picks up the finger and laughs. The laugh is shaky and pained and wrong. It sounds more like sobbing than anything else.

"Sirius-"

A familiar voice. The one named Sirius stands and turns.

_Remus,_ he thinks, _of course you'd find me. Too smart to believe that I would kill James and Lily._

"Sirius, you need to leave," Remus pleads, "you need to go as far from here as you can. Don't you understand? They're coming! Sirius, _run_!"

The man Sirius disappears and the dog Padfoot takes his place. He looks at Remus, longs for some kind of encouragement.

He hesitates, two beats, then turns and runs as fast as he can away from all the death.

***…***…***…***…

He had a rough idea of where he could go. He knew, however, that he couldn't be human again until his name had been cleared. He would be this black wolf until Remus found him once again.

As he ran, he remembered. James and Lily. James, his brother, his best and most trusted friend. Lily, the smartest witch he'd ever met, so bright and quick and funny. And their son, Harry.

_Harry…_ Sirius felt an ache in his stomach. That boy would have no parents. An orphan, without family. Hopefully Remus would take him in. Though, technically, Sirius was his legal guardian.

Sirius was going to run to another country, he thought. Perhaps he could go to Ireland. He wasn't sure exactly, but he knew he needed to get away from the Ministry. He also needed to get off the main road or else he'd get caught.

It was then that he almost collided with a small child. He stopped himself just before he knocked the child over. The boy, who looked to be five years old (if that) saw Sirius and bit his lower lip.

Sirius froze, staying as still as he could.

The boy reached out one cautious hand and patted Sirius's black, matted fur.

Sirius didn't move; instead of disheartening the boy, as he had intended to do, this seemed to encourage the boy to pat Sirius again. Sirius bared his teeth, trying to scare the boy away but it was too late- the boy was turning to a woman (possibly his mother?) and pulling at her pant leg, he asked her who 'the dog' belonged to.

Sirius almost sighed with exasperation.

The woman turned to Sirius and bent down, looking for his collar.

Sirius realised, then, that this was exactly what he needed. The Ministry didn't know he was an animagus. He was close enough to the Ministry to keep up with what was happening, but this muggle family would be perfect for hiding his identity.

He decided, then and there, that he would live with this family. And whatever Sirius decides goes.

He whimpered softly and looked up at the woman with his eyes widened. She frowned.

"He might belong to someone, Jim."

The boy shook his head. "He doesn't have a collar! He's a stray!"

Sirius nuzzled the boy's hand with his head. The boy giggled and patted Sirius.

The woman sighed. "We'll take him to the vet, see what they have to say. No promises though, Jim."

Seemingly satisfied with this answer, the boy (Jim, Sirius thought, as in short for James?) beckoned for Sirius to follow him back to their Muggle car, which was red and rusty and probably a few years past its expiry date but Sirius didn't mind too much.

He settled in the back seat and the realisation of his life hit him in the snout.

Peter Pettigrew killed Lily and James. Remus was all alone. A whole street of Muggles were dead.

Sirius tried to remember how this all came to be.

***…***…***…***

"Have you told Remus yet?" Peter asked nervously. "About what I told you, I mean."

Sirius bit back a bitter laugh and shook his head. "Nah, mate. I haven't spoken to Remus in a while."

_The truth was that after a very bitter fight one week before the full moon, Sirius had stormed from their shared apartment and wound up sleeping on James and Lily's couch. In return, he would babysit Harry whenever James and Lily needed a break._

_Although, Harry was basically an angel, so James and Lily rarely needed a break._

_However, before long, Remus – bloody noble idiot – had decided to move out of their shared apartment on the basis that technically Sirius owned it and so he should live there. The worst part was Remus's self-depreciating tone when he'd Apparated over one afternoon to tell Sirius._

_It made Sirius feel guilty and angry and shitty with the world. He'd moved back in to the empty apartment, Remus taking his place on the Potters' couch._

"_It's your place," Remus had murmured, "so you should move back in. I'm already packed. I just, I mean, I don't… Sirius, I didn't mean to upset you. I want this to work, but…"_

"_You're a werewolf and I don't understand." Sirius had finished what Remus would have said. "I guess it was always going to end like this, wasn't it?"_

_Remus had raised an eyebrow at this point. Sirius remembered how sad Remus's eyes looked when he asked "do you really believe that?"_

_Sirius remembered how shocked Remus looked when Sirius nodded._

_He hadn't spoken to Remus since._

"So you thought about what I said?" Peter widened his eyes, the picture of innocence. Sirius dragged himself from his memories and back to Peter. "I mean, James agreed with me, so…"

Sirius nodded half-heartedly. "Yeah. I'll make you Secret Keeper."

"What? Really?" Peter seemed quite taken aback.

Sirius wondered whether Remus might have found Peter's behaviour suspicious. He realised that he didn't care what Remus thought anymore, so he threw all caution to the wind.

"Sure. You, Peter Pettigrew, are now Secret Keeper for the house of Lily and James Potter."

And with those words, Sirius felt something like a deep breath leave his mouth. He tasted something bitter on the roof of his mouth (was it blood?) and he had to swallow thickly before he could speak again.

Peter, however, seemed over the moon. Which was strange, right? Remus would have-

Remus isn't here, he reminded himself.

Peter grinned and Sirius grimaced, already regretting the words he had uttered five minutes earlier.

***…***…***…***

"Doggie, wake up."

Sirius was shaken awake by a small, pudgy hand. Little Jim was poking Sirius in the stomach. Sirius yawned and opened his eyes.

They had arrived at the vet, he noticed disconnectedly.

Jim's mother opened the door and went to pull him out of the car. Indignantly, Sirius helped himself out. He was too proud for his own good. James used to say that all the time.

_James_… Sirius's stomach lurched with regret and longing and despair. What had he done?

"Come on, doggie, let's go." Jim grinned and skipped ahead.

Jim's mother frowned concernedly and Sirius noticed how young she looked and how the blouse she wore seemed too large for her bony frame.

Sirius might have felt sorry for the woman but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself.

They arrived at the vet and the receptionist directed them through.

"I'll look after Jimmy, love. You just go straight through to see Doctor Brown." The receptionist winked at Jim's mum and directed Jim over to where a pile of toy cars lay in a bucket.

Apparently the vet was friends with Jim's mother. Sirius wished he knew her name. It just didn't feel right calling her 'Jim's mum'.

"Sam! So great to see you!" The vet, a middle-aged red-headed man, smiled toothily. Sirius frowned. Jim's mother, Sam, smiled wearily back.

"Hi, John. So nice of you to see us on such short notice."

"My pleasure! So, what can I do for you?"

This John fellow was suspicious, Sirius thought to himself. He sniffed the air around the man, trying to get a better idea on his personality.

Sam pursed her lips. "Jim found this mutt on the pavement earlier. I thought I'd bring him in here-"

"Homeless, is he?" The vet patted Sirius on the head. Sirius didn't like that very much; he growled.

Sam frowned. "Well, he doesn't have a collar-"

"So you want to put him down?" John asked casually, as though he were talking about the weather.

Sirius barked loudly. This wasn't in the bargain. He'd wanted to hide from the Ministry, to escape death, not to run closer towards it!

Sam seemed to be on the same page as him, luckily. "No! No, I just thought you could adopt him out or something!" She seemed pretty angry. Sirius was glad he had someone to stick up for him.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that. Well, I suppose we could try to adopt him out…"

Something about John's tone was wrong, Sirius noticed.

Sam noticed it too. "Don't worry," she forced a smiled and gestured for Sirius to come to her side, "I think I'll keep him after all. See you around, John."

She turned and left the room, Sirius following her eagerly. She had practically saved his life.

"Doggie!" Jim ran up to Sirius as soon as he saw Sam emerge from the room.

Sirius sighed with relief and allowed himself to be petted. It wasn't too bad, he thought. This child reminded him of Harry, except that Little Jim had tan-coloured skin and light brown hair. Like a mini-Remus, Sirius thought.

His affection for the kid grew even more.

"Come on, let's bring doggie in the car with us," Sam muttered, "and we'll stop by Tesco's later to buy him some food."

Jim beamed at his mum and set off back to the car, Sirius trailing behind him.

Sirius wished he could have felt safe or comfortable or satisfied, but the only emotion he could feel was guilt, mixed with a vague sense of impending doom.

He wondered how Remus was feeling.


	2. Two

**A/N: Thanks for all the follows, it means a lot. And don't worry; I'll try to keep Sirius from eating dog food for as long as possible! **

**Also, sorry for the delay in writing. I have a lot of assessments and assignments to do, and they all seemed to be due just when I had the idea for this fic. Hopefully I will be more punctual in future. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter Two:**

The sun set in the sky and Sirius watched it with a bitter feeling in his stomach. Sam and Jim had bought him dog food – which he downright refused to eat – and as a result, he was quite hungry. He felt older than he was, and more tired than he should have. But then, it had been an unbelievable day.

It was strange, he realised, that part of him wanted to go to Azkaban to serve his sentence. Part of him wanted to atone for his sins against James and Lily.

There was, however, a stronger part of him which knew that, against all odds, he needed to stay around. From outside the walls of Azkaban, he could begin the search for Peter.

It was seven o'clock before too long. The shape of the moon indicated four days until full moon, Sirius thought. Or maybe it was fourteen days. He could never really remember all that.

Lily used to know.

"Bed time, James!" Sam called. Sirius flinched at the name.

One hour passed, then another. Sirius stared at a spot on the wall until Sam turned off all the lights in the house. He waited some more, until he knew it was the early hours of the morning.

Then he transformed back in to the man he used to be was and walked out the front door.

He sunk in to the grass, knees damp from wet soil. He didn't quite care about the dirt on his naked knees but he realised that if a muggle were to walk past at this moment, they would most likely report him to the police for inappropriate nakedness.

So he hurried to an abandoned shack about five minutes away from Sam and Jim's house. He grabbed the first piece of material he could find – an empty potato sack.

It had been a long time since he last saw one of these.

***…***…***…***

"_You know, Sirius, you'd look great in anything. Even a potato sack would suit you, you lucky thing." Marlene McKinnon had laughed. She was his first proper girlfriend and he would always remember how her laugh had sounded like a scoff._

"_A potato sack?" Sirius had smirked. "Well, then."_

_The next day, he'd mustered up an old sack and wore it to all his classes. Professor Slughorn had been so angry; he turned a shade of beetroot red. James thought it was hilarious. He kept high-fiving Sirius and laughing. Marlene, however, had called him an idiot. _

"_There are some things you're supposed to keep to yourself," she had sighed, "and I told you that as a compliment, you idiot. You completely humiliated the both of us. I can't believe this."_

_Remus had merely rolled his eyes, but Sirius knew that deep down, his werewolf friend was extremely amused._

_Later that evening, Remus shook his head incredulously but a small smile twitched at his lips. "So how many detentions does that make now?"_

"_I don't know, Moony. You're the one who does Arithmancy. You tell me." Sirius grinned. _

_Remus grinned back._

_And then Peter-_

***…***…***…***

Sirius woke with a start. He realised that he was still human, alone in the shack, wearing the empty potato sack.

He pulled the potato sack off and folded it neatly, hiding it under one of the shack's abandoned boxes. The sun was just rising and Sirius knew he had to go back to his new home; he had to keep his cover.

He morphed back in to his dog form and trotted back to the house, before he realised that he had to open the door to get back inside. It was too late – Sam had already woken up. He could hear her calling to Jim, asking him to come and eat his breakfast.

Sirius swore inwardly and tried to make a plan.

He drew blanks.

"Where's that dog gotten to?" Sam called. "Is he with you, Jim?"

Before he realised what he was doing, he was scratching at the front door and barking.

Sam opened the door and he barked appreciatively, before darting past her legs and in to the house.

Jim spotted him and smiled. Sirius was glad that this outcome could make _someone_ happy at least. He wondered again how Remus was doing.

He wondered, again, if he had chosen the cowardly option by running away from the situation. Wasn't it right that he atone for his sins?

Why was he sorted in to Gryffindor if he was this bloody weak?

"I think the dog will be alright at home for the day, don't you think?" Sam's voice drew Sirius out of his head. "He seems quite tame. I just hope he doesn't rip up the furniture…"

Was she talking to herself?

Jim frowned. "Why can't I stay home with him today?"

"Because school is far more important, James," said Sam, "and because mummy has to go to work and you can't stay home by yourself or else we'll get in to trouble."

Jim looked as though he was about to argue so Sirius tried to help distract him by nudging the boy's leg with his head.

Jim giggled and Sam looked relieved, somewhat.

When Sam and Jim were about to leave, Sam even gave Sirius a little pat on the head. It wasn't much, but it was something.

He transformed in to a human as soon as they left. He walked to the refrigerator (Remus used to tell him all about them, from his Muggle Studies lessons) and looked for something edible.

Why was he sorted in to Gryffindor, he wondered, if he was a coward?

He took a bite out of a piece of pie which was sitting at the back of the refrigerator.

It didn't matter whether or not he was a coward or why he was sorted in to the wrong house, he realised. All that mattered was that he found Peter and killed him.

And then he could atone for his own sins later.


	3. Three

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I'm going to be on hiatus for a while now. Sorry if there's any inconvenience. I just need some time to get some stuff together. **

**Thought I'd try something different for this chapter, just because I felt like I was leaning on the Sirius-angst too much and wanted to diversify my angst sources. (Is angst-source a thing? Can it be a thing now?) **

**Also there are going to be **_**TIME JUMPS**_** from now on to move this along more quickly. I capitalised that so you wouldn't skip it and be confused. **

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K.**

**Some swearing in this chapter too, so beware.**

Remus Lupin felt like shit when he woke up. It had been three weeks since he'd found Sirius in that street. It had also been three weeks since James and Lily were murdered.

Remus groaned and rolled over in his bed, burying his head under his pillow. He didn't really want to think about any of that. He couldn't afford to be upset again.

He needed to go to a meeting with the Order of the Phoenix. He needed to get out of bed and shower and change and…

Peter Pettigrew had always been such a good person, Remus remembered. He was always friendly, if a little over-zealous. Remus wanted to know _why_ he had done it, more than anything. He wanted to know why Peter, of all people, would have betrayed James.

_How do you know that Sirius didn't do it?_ A voice inside his head hissed.

This always happened to him a few days before the full moon. Those little twinges of doubt seeped through everything in the lead up to the transformation. He knew he should ignore the little voice. He knew it wasn't helpful to listen to it, but…

_He's lied to you before, hasn't he? Why is this different? Anything to protect himself – you know how he is. _

Remus threw back his covers and got out of bed.

_Why didn't he tell you the truth? Why didn't he trust you? Maybe he hated you the whole time. Maybe he was just pretending._

He sighed and grabbed his wand. A pair of trousers, a shirt and a cardigan flew on to his bed with a flick of the wand in his hand.

He shrugged off his pyjamas and pulled on the clothes on his bed. He glanced at himself in the bedroom mirror which once belonged to Sirius.

Remus looked older and more tired than anyone his age should. His hair was messy, though not as much as James's hair is-

_Was…_

Remus adjusted the collar of his shirt. His cardigan was the same dull brown as his eyes. He used to have inquisitive eyes, he remembered. Always bright and curious and expressive. His friends used to tell what he was thinking just by looking at his eyes.

Now, he reflected, his eyes just looked empty and dead.

_Why would Peter join Voldemort? None of it adds up. Whereas Sirius, well… The Black family was always affiliated with Voldemort-_

"Sirius isn't his family," Remus murmured under his breath.

_You'd love to believe that. You can never know for sure._

Before his doubts could get the best of him, Remus Apparated to the new meeting place for the Order. He wondered how many had died since the last meeting.

_You'll be the only one left soon,_ the voice in his head hissed just as his feet made contact with ground.

Remus ignored the feeling of dread that sat in his stomach like a brick and muttered the password for the Order. A door appeared in thin air before him, followed by white walls, a roof and then a front garden.

He sighed, knocked on the door, and then waited.

***…***…***…***

"Since our last meeting… er…" Emmeline Vance glanced around the table at the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. There were only a handful of remaining members, and they all looked the same – pale, famished and exhausted.

Although, Emmeline noticed, Remus Lupin looked worse than most.

"I mean, that's to say… er…"

Mad Eye Moody shook his head exasperatedly. "Just say it, Emmeline," he snapped, "how many dead since last time?"

"Well, the Potters, mainly," Emmeline whispered, "but…"

"But what?" Remus heard his own voice and almost flinched. He sounded hoarse, his voice reflecting the past three weeks of sleepless nights and sickness.

Everyone in the room looked at him as though they were afraid he might explode. He forced himself to look away from them all. He didn't want them to pity him. He didn't want them to whisper about how they never thought Sirius Black would have done that.

He glanced at Emmeline. She began to explain.

"The Longbottoms were found yesterday," Emmeline sounded distraught, "close to dead. They've been taken to St. Mungo's but it's unlikely they'll ever recover."

The silence was overwhelming, Remus thought. Alice and Frank had been two of the bravest in the Order of the Phoenix. They were always fighters.

"But You-Know-Who is dead!" Minerva McGonagall exclaimed.

"His Death Eaters are still at large, and Frank and Alice were supposed to be in hiding and then Bellatrix Lestrange just… I mean, they'd been tracking Alice and Frank the whole time. They found their hiding place and tortured them… We came too late…" Emmeline's voice trailed off.

Remus realised that she was crying. Many faces around the room were wet with tears. The Longbottoms and the Potters were, for many, the only hope left. Now that they were gone-

"This group can continue no longer."

All heads in the room glanced up to see a tall, familiar figure in the doorway. _Dumbledore._

Albus Dumbledore's face was grave and gaunt. Remus had never seen him look so old and tired.

"Too many have died. Voldemort is gone, for now. We cannot afford to lose any more of you. Today will be our final meeting."

"What do you mean 'for now'? He can't come back… Can he?" Sturgis Podmore widened his eyes. "It's just not possible."

Remus felt sick, more sick than he'd felt before. He stood to his feet and left the room. He couldn't sit there and listen to more talk about Voldemort's return, not when Lily and James had given their lives to stop him.

Remus wondered where Harry was, whether he was being looked after properly, whether Lily's sister cared about him as much as Remus and Sirius did.

He hoped so. For the boy's sake, he hoped.

***…***…***…***

"_I'm the godfather! Yes! I knew it!" Sirius shouted, no less than four hours after Harry's birth, throwing his fist in to the air like he had scored a goal. "I've won!"_

"_It was hardly a competition, Padfoot," Remus laughed, "settle down."_

_Sirius collapsed in to one of the waiting benches outside Lily's room. The Healers at St. Mungo's were giving Sirius harsh looks but he didn't seem to care. He was grinning from ear to ear._

"_Yeah, well, now we have a new little Marauder to influence, eh?" Sirius chuckled. "We can teach him a few jinxes."_

_Remus shook his head incredulously. "You're not to teach him anything, Sirius. Lily would kill you if she found out you'd taught Harry jinxes."_

"_Yes, but I'm the godfather, and I say we teach him."_

"_Fine," Remus sighed, "but I get to be godfather to the second one."_

_Sirius was about to make some kind of quip when he noticed something more urgent._

"_Where's Wormtail?"_

_When Remus thought about it properly, he realised – even then – that something was going on. _

"_I haven't seen him in-"_

"_Days," Sirius finished Remus's sentence, a bewildered look on his face. _

"_He knew about Harry, right? He knew Lily was going to have the baby, didn't he?" Remus murmured._

_Sirius shrugged. "James was supposed to tell him. He might have forgotten, though. He has had a lot on his mind lately…"_

_Remus couldn't shrug the feeling that something was really wrong with Peter Pettigrew, but he didn't know quite what it was._

***...***…***…***

"I was hoping I would find you here."

Andromeda's voice startled him out of his head. He remembered where he was – the apartment he and Sirius shared – and then he realised who had just spoken.

Andromeda Tonks was Sirius's favourite cousin. She could have been his twin, Remus thought. Every detail of her appearance reflected Sirius's, except for her eyes. Where Sirius had stormy grey eyes, Andromeda had icy blue ones.

"Why were you looking for me?" Remus asked her, forcing his tone to remain casual and polite. The last time they had spoken, Andromeda was hardly nice to him.

Of course, that was another difference – Andromeda never really approved of Remus.

"I heard about Alice and Frank. They were great Auroras," Andromeda frowned, "it's quite tragic, really."

"Look, I don't mean to be blunt but why are you here? I don't want to _chat_, Andromeda." Remus sighed.

Andromeda shrugged. "I don't know, Remus. To tell you the truth, I always thought that Sirius could have done a lot better than an unemployed werewolf with no future…"

Remus smiled humourlessly.

_She's got a point,_ he thought to himself.

"…But I've realised that you both kind of complimented each other, in a way. I was harsh on you, Remus. You've got a lot more than what meets the eye.

"And I wanted to say that, if you need anything at all, don't feel embarrassed to ask me or Ted. We'd… er, we'd be happy to help. I guess finding out that your boyfriend was a criminal the whole time might have been tough on you-"

"Sirius isn't a criminal!" Remus snapped without thinking. "I saw it happen. He didn't do it!"

Anromeda tutted and rolled her blue eyes. "Remus, they'll arrest you if they think you're supporting him. Don't you know anything? You need to pretend to hate him if you want to live a free life."

Remus raised his eyebrows, anger still bubbling in his chest. "Why are you helping me? Did you want something in return?"

Andromeda glared at him. "Don't be smart, Lupin. Just accept the bloody advice."

"Alright then… Thanks?" Remus offered. Andromeda Tonks wasn't supposed to be helpful.

But then, he supposed, none of this was supposed to happen. Sirius wasn't supposed to be on the run. Peter wasn't supposed to be a killer. James and Lily weren't supposed to be dead…

Andromeda nodded shortly. "Yeah, well, I still wish that Sirius could have found someone a bit less… Strange. But if you're part of Sirius's family, then you're part of me and Ted's family too. So if you need anything at all, the offer still stands."

Remus thanked Andromeda again (although he had to fight back an incredulous bark of laughter at the whole situation) and then Andromeda turned around and walked away.

As she left, he wondered how she had gotten in to the apartment in the first place.

He would definitely need to adjust some of the protective charms before anyone else managed to break in.


	4. Four

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Thanks again for the alerts and reviews. **

**Sorry for the extended hiatus. I had a lot of assignments and such to do for school. I actually still have a few to do but I thought I'd try to finish some more chapters of this first. **

**This is another chapter of pure angst mixed with flashbacks because I am in the mood for some self-pity and regret. You know how it is, art imitates life and all that nonsense. But perhaps the next chapter will be very different… **

**(Also, I'd just like to note that I don't really agree with 'character bashing' as you'll see in this chapter. I believe that everyone does things because of reasons that are valid to their circumstances. So if you really hate Peter Pettigrew and you want to see him get 'bashed', I'd recommend you skip this chapter.)**

***…***…***

_Two years later_

***…***…***

Jim was a wizard. Sirius knew it, as surely as his parents had recognised it in him. Jim could make things fly around the house, when his mother wasn't looking. Jim could make his vegetables disappear when he was stroppy enough. Jim could even make fireworks, at night, if he was bored enough.

Which meant only one thing: Hogwarts. Since Jim was muggle-born, a witch or wizard would come to his house to explain to Sam exactly what was happening to her son. There would be a few gasps here and there, maybe some frowns and glares. A few more years would pass. Then, Jim would turn eleven and Hogwarts would send him his letter in the mail.

For the life of him, Sirius couldn't remember getting his letter. Perhaps he hadn't gotten a letter, with his parents being so influential and powerful. It was just commonplace that Sirius would go to Hogwarts, just like his cousins before him.

He could remember his first trip on the Hogwarts Express more clearly than receiving the actual letter. He could remember James and Peter on the ride there. He could remember snotty little Lily Evans, poking her head through their compartment door to yell at them about making too much noise. James had fallen for her instantly.

Sirius could also remember being sorted into Gryffindor. He was so thrilled to have another way to put distance between himself and his family. Sirius remembered it all, but he couldn't remember that damned letter…

And just as Sirius remembered his past, Jim started levitating in mid-air, completely throwing Sirius off his train of thought.

"Jim, what-" Sam leapt into the air, gasping.

The kid was more in touch with his magic than Sirius had originally thought.

"No, mum, it's okay-"

"What is going on-"

Sirius tried to explain what was happening, just out of habit, but it came out as barks and whines. Sam's cheeks were slowly turning red, her mouth slightly open in disbelief. Sirius kept barking- he couldn't help it.

"I can't – Dog, get out! Get out!" Sam grabbed Sirius by the collar and threw him out of the house. He understood that it would be annoying to have a barking dog in the house when your son began to levitate unexpectedly, but Sirius wanted to help.

But then, as a dog, there was nothing he could really do.

***…***…***

"_They don't always come to every house, you see. There are far too many muggle-born witches and wizards. Some of us never get explanations. They do what they can but sometimes, if they know that you already know-"_

"_But how do they know that you know?" James had asked, rather stupidly, Sirius thought._

_Lily had rolled her eyes and Remus had shot her a sympathetic look. "They just know," Lily deadpanned, although she couldn't hide the amused smile on her face. Poor James had always tried so hard to impress her. Sirius remembered how his friend was so sure that he would marry Lily. Peter had suggested that they form a friendship first, and then start dating._

_Peter was always full of helpful suggestions._

_It was a cold December evening and the Marauders (with their honorary member Lily) were all sitting in the Gryffindor common room. It was their seventh year, Sirius recalled, and they had all opted to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, to spend time together as a group._

_James and Lily were sitting side by side in front of the fire. Sirius was heaped haphazardly on the floor, like a rug which would occasionally snort with derision. Remus was in the armchair closest to Lily, and Peter was sitting cross-legged near Remus. _

_They had been discussing how Lily found out she was a witch from Severus Snape of all people. James couldn't understand why no one else had explained it to her family, why it had to be Snape. James was bright but he was also quite ignorant about many things. Sirius was more ignorant than James, though. Even though he had distanced himself from the Black family, he still carried their worst traits: ignorance and pride._

_The fire crackled and hissed, sometimes startling Peter to jump a few centimetres into the air. Sirius and James had laughed – without any malice, of course – but Peter's cheeks still warmed with embarrassment._

"_You're both awful!" Lily had exclaimed. "Honestly, James, be a little bit sensitive!" It was then that she turned to Remus and shook her head sadly. "We should give up on the whole boyfriend thing now, before it's too late."_

_To which James had replied: "what boyfriend thing?"_

_Lily looked from James to Remus and then back again. "I was… I mean…" And she blushed. And then she leant forward and kissed James on the cheek._

_Remus's eyes widened comically. Sirius would have laughed at the whole situation but he knew that if he made a single sound, James would probably hit him in the face._

_So he settled for grinning mischievously and winking at Remus. Peter had looked so lost. When James and Lily excused themselves from the common room to 'talk' ('not bloody likely', Sirius thought to himself) Peter's eyebrows furrowed in confusion._

"_She likes him back?" Peter asked aloud._

_Sirius scoffed. "Well she did just kiss him on the cheek. Or did you miss that part?"_

_Peter bit his lower lip. "I saw, I just didn't-"_

"_Moony, I'm going for a walk," Sirius jumped to his feet suddenly and made his way towards the portrait hole, "are you coming with me?"_

_Remus shrugged and asked if Peter wanted to come with them. Sirius shook his head and Remus raised an eyebrow questioningly. Sometimes Remus could be really daft. Peter still looked confused, like he didn't quite know what they were talking about._

_Sirius frowned. "No, I meant… Sorry Wormtail, it's just… You know. I wanted to talk to Remus alone."_

_Peter's face twisted into one of the most pained expressions Sirius had ever seen. He knew about Remus and Sirius's relationship but he missed having his friends around. When Lily and James moved in together and Sirius and Remus moved in to their own little place, it was obvious that Peter was more alone than ever._

_Maybe that was when Peter started to change. Maybe that was when he felt so left out and alone, that he had to resort to killing his best friends and setting the others up for Azkaban._

_Maybe they all should have tried to include him more in their lives._

***…***…***

As a dog, there was nothing he could really do. That was true. He could only bark and growl. He couldn't explain anything.

But as a man…

The Ministry of Magic hadn't released his photograph to the muggle media, merely his name. It would be a big risk, turning human again to reveal himself to Sam and Jim, but Sirius realised that for the past two years these people had looked after him.

Now, Jim and Sam needed help. They needed someone who could explain things to them. They needed a friend with a voice. Sirius had a second chance, he realised. Sirius didn't want Jim to feel alone, like Peter Pettigrew had. He didn't want history to repeat.

So no less than an hour after Sam had kicked him out of the house as a dog, he stood at the door in a stolen suit and stolen sandals. He had tried to look as presentable as possible, but without a mirror, he could only guess at how he looked.

He took a deep breath and knocked at the door, savouring the feeling of having four fingers and a thumb.

"Who is it?" A quiet voice asked from the other side of the door.

Sirius cleared his throat and forced himself to speak, for the first time in two years, as a human. His voice still had a slight growl to it, reminding him of Alastor Moody's rough tone.

"I'm from the Ministry of Magic. I'd like to explain to you the reason your son can do the things he does."

***…***…***

"Minister, if you have a moment, we… Well, we have a sighting of Sirius Black. We've found his hide-out."

"Are you sure it's him? Where did you find him?"

"He's with a family, a muggle mother and her son. A young witch who lives across the road saw him enter the premises. She said it was definitely him; she recognised him from the Prophet a few years back. She said he looks exactly the same, only a little more… rough."

"Then what are you waiting for? Assemble a team of Aurors to arrest him. Everyone needs a morale boost. Catching You-Know-Who's right-hand man would be the perfect way to show them that the war is finally over!"

"Yes, Minister. I'll get on it right away. We should have him caught before tomorrow night."


End file.
